What's the bar scene like on Loi Kroh these days?

[Beng]

I think it's you. And me, and everyone else who matures from initial 'shock & awe' to an inevitable level of jadedness, as the years move on.

I'm not the same person I was 20 years ago. Still having a good time though.

And a specific pet-peeve of mine is people claiming that 'the girls used to be prettier': you can look at old photos online taken in bars in any era from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s to see that this just isn't the case.

What so many of us fail to remember is.. 10 or 20 years ago 'we' were 10 or 20 years younger..

The hottest girls have options.. And while money is obviously part, its not the only part.. Was it easier to hit up the best girls when I was in my 20s as opposed to now ?? Er you think ?? But as PJ O Rouke put it, age and guile beats youth innocence and a bad haircut..

That said many of the girls like fun, I know some very fun guys in their 50s and even 60s who still act and live young.. Still like to party and know how to joke and get the girls laughing.. Dont mind splashing the cash a bit or ringing the odd bell.. They are still in the game. But go in with a fanny pack, beer belly, combover, and a scowling grump on.. Then complain that some 20 year old slim little cuddlebunny asks for a drink too quickly for the honor of your company ?? Really ??

I go around Thailand every couple of months to kick up some dust.. And I honestly cant believe how many great fun girls there are, ready to laugh and joke, ready to have a party, everywhere !! From tin shack karokes in issan, or country discos in smalls towns, to the wannabe model type jet set in Phuket beach clubs or bangkok rooftop bars, the hardcore in Patts soi 6, etc etc etc.. If your failing here ?? Where pray tell is it better..

This is the most common excused used and I don`t agree.

Obviously we were all younger at one time and getting older by the day, so what? Being older does not mean we are all becoming senile and losing our memories.

Having over 31 years of living in Thailand and mostly in Chiang Mai I can tell you that there has been a major decline in the quality and availability of the commercial adult entertainment venues in Chiang Mai over the years. There is no question about it, much of what used to be has gone and what is left is very much nondescript or simply grot, plus due to the lack of supply and demand even the grot has become expensive.

My point being, the Chiang Mai night scene is pretty grim. Chiang Mai is a great city for those who enjoy shopping trips, quite and isolation and going to bed at a reasonable hour, but for letting our hair down and being naughty once in a while, Chiang Mai is certainly no sin city.

Nothing wrong with that at all.

[philw]

And there are more and more restaurants opening up, of course. Latest is that Carnival bar now serves food.

Unless she has sold it, the owner had a restaurant there initially, which had moved from behind where Cozy Corner used to be: The Laughing Leprechaun used to be one of the best places in town. However, that was a lot more due to her former husband than to her, but maybe she remembers enough to provide some good food once again.

A spiteful little aside.

Did she turn you down ???

It's a good, popular and profitable bar / restaurant.

Must be a reason for this, like er, well run ( or something like that...........)

[Ulysses G.]

Quite frankly, I don't know what you are talking about. I said that The Laughing Leprechaun used to be one of the best places in town and that her Farang husband was the main force behind the excellent food - like most Western restaurants. Unlike what you have implied about her here, no disrespect was meant at all. What is "spiteful" about mentioning that she used to have a successful restaurant in the past? It is not a secret that she has not been in that business for quite a while.

Edited January 5, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[binjalin]

Carnival succeeds due to the live music and the good mamasan and if they now do food good luck to them. I don't think Ulysses was being spiteful in any way.

[JulieM]

Punxsutawny Phil is just drunk again. Ignore him UG.

[daoyai]

Carnival succeeds due to the live music and the good mamasan and if they now do food good luck to them. I don't think Ulysses was being spiteful in any way.

Not spiteful but perhaps a bit sarcastic as anyone familiar with the L. L. saga would be...

[PJcm]

Chiang Mai is still a great place to be retired.

Chiang Mai; A country for old men.

[sharktooth]

Fascinating, this overwhelming concern about bars and bar girls, especially on Loi Kroh.

If it weren't for that concern--- and that for food, shopping malls and 90-day reports --- ThaiVisa would probably not exist.

If they banned the word 'cheap' ThaiVisa would disappear...

[orang37]

Well, yeah, maybe! Maybe not!

The opinion of Schrodinger's half-dead Siamese cat about being half-alive is not the same as the opinion of Schrodinger's half-alive Siamese cat about being half-dead. At any given moment one says "mai phen rai," and the other says "mai ao," but it is impossible to predict which will say what before ... [1] ...

~o:37;

[1] Left as an exercise for the reader

Edited January 6, 2015 by orang37

[puukao]

Well, yeah, maybe! Maybe not!

The opinion of Schrodinger's half-dead Siamese cat about being half-alive is not the same as the opinion of Schrodinger's half-alive Siamese cat about being half-dead. At any given moment one says "mai phen rai," and the other says "mai ao," but it is impossible to predict which will say what before ... [1] ...

~o:37;

[1] Left as an exercise for the reader

half-alive might imply a trend towards full alive, while half-dead could imply a degenerate state spiraling towards full-on dead. However, if half-dead there is a chance the cat knows they are dying and reverses it's condition, while half-alive the cat clings to a false sense of hope, only to fall into the sea of despair. buddha would allow neither, and tell the cat to live in the moment.

[arunsakda]

Regarding the nightlife scene on LK Road. I was there last night for the first time in a while and it looked quite grim.

I was under the mistaken impression that "fleabag" was archaic American slang for an aged prostitute who exclusively services alcoholics and Skid Row bums. I was wrong.

I looked it up and and actually means "a cheap dingy hotel". The term is from the 1920's and went out with The 23 Skidoo.

[Ulysses G.]

Winniethekwai has a lot of photos, of very attractive women, that he claims to have taken on LK Road. Do you suppose that he is sneaking off to Bangkok and taking pictures in an effort to pull our collective legs?

There have been quite a few very decent looking young ladies doing their trade in the happy massages on LK recently, so I'm inclined to believe him.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[scottishjohn]

Winniethekwai has a lot of photos, of very attractive women, that he claims to have taken on LK Road. Do you suppose that he is sneaking off to Bangkok and taking pictures in an effort to pull our collective legs?

There have been quite a few very decent looking young ladies doing their trade in the happy massages on LK recently, so I'm inclined to believe him.

Is this the correct subject area to be discussing the "pulling of legs" "collective" or not?

I hope it is not a euphemism for "you pull my leg and I'll pull yours"!

[Chicog]

It's ok for a drink and a bit of banter, although the other night everywhere closed early because the old bill set up a roadblock around the corner stopping bikes and cars looking for drugs, and I think it prompted a few people to sneak off in case they decided to check the bars as well; apparently near new Year they raided Zoe and piss-tested a load of customers.

[Loptr]

^ News to me as I was at Zoe Yellow until around 2:00am on NYE and only saw the plod directing traffic... I could be wrong, but such activity would have surely raised an alert throughout the bars...

[Chicog]

^ News to me as I was at Zoe Yellow until around 2:00am on NYE and only saw the plod directing traffic... I could be wrong, but such activity would have surely raised an alert throughout the bars...

I said "near New Year", didn't mean the hour though - it was between the 27th and the 30th, but not sure of the exact date.

[StevieH]

^ News to me as I was at Zoe Yellow until around 2:00am on NYE and only saw the plod directing traffic... I could be wrong, but such activity would have surely raised an alert throughout the bars...

I said "near New Year", didn't mean the hour though - it was between the 27th and the 30th, but not sure of the exact date.

was sunday the 28th. not been back since by all accounts.

[true blue]

the reson the locol plod come to yellow was there was quite a bit of a rumpus between farang and thai the night before,ended up in a bit of a brawl,so the big brass and half the police force came to visit and have a look at the venue. there for quite some while as well just lookin and inspecting,i would belive yellow are well connected, and covered and paid up for any police invlovment.

[DeaconJohn]

^ News to me as I was at Zoe Yellow until around 2:00am on NYE and only saw the plod directing traffic... I could be wrong, but such activity would have surely raised an alert throughout the bars...

I said "near New Year", didn't mean the hour though - it was between the 27th and the 30th, but not sure of the exact date.

was sunday the 28th. not been back since by all accounts.

There were reports that the festive spirit resulted in such confusion that the officers drank the urine samples by mistake and haven't been well since.

[Beetlejuice]

Is it me, or does the bar girl scene seem to be diminishing in quality all over Thailand? Samui is a pale shadow of what it used to be. Phuket is pretty depressing. Bangkok seems to be barely holding its own. Hua Hin seems to be the only area that is getting better. Hope the general is not reading this. He seems to object to us having some fun. Chiang Mai is very, very weak, when it comes to good bars. LK is not much to speak of, on any level.

Dont agree.. Have been to most of those spots multiple times this year and would say..

Samui.. Chaweng is going (as per many destinations) more family biased and Samui has always had a younger set due to the islands and FMP.. So the best lookers often work FL around green mango / solo / late.. And are not going for the older, greying pot bellied type as much.. The soi reggae pup zone was rammed with staff, many of whom were at least worthy of buying a drink and Lamai is also rammed with friendly staff.. Good times there just a few weeks ago.

Phuket.. Growing and growing and truly international with plenty of models and real tip top girls working promo etc and in the clubs and high end placed.. These girls are looking at 5 digit money a night and the lower end beer bars like new tiger have more stunning looking girls than you can count.. Get your wallet ready for 300b and up lady drinks and 150 - 200b beers tho.. Girls will be asking 3 - 5 but settle for a lot less if your fit and young or just good fun to be with..

Bangkok is huge and diverse.. from the farang centric spots (nana, cowboy and patpong) to the suk 11 trandies, to tonglor, RCA and the like.. Check a party night at 'the pimp' and say theres only rough old badgers working !! Again close to 5 digit money tho for those types. Again over 50, or just look it, dont dress up for a night out ?? You will stand out.

Thailand has got richer.. Its a middle income country and the cities and tourist spots are now not cheap places to live, and the aspirations of the locals are much more into BMW and versace then making payments on a honda step through. Yet visitors still seem to want to pay the same 1000b long times that they paid 10 or even in some cases 150 years back.. Face it, your being priced out of the top tier, and the smart top tier girls, the ones with brains and intelligence enough to network and use a smartphone, know this.. And know where to go to get the real money.. Hell one girl I am still friends with, who did a couple of years on Patong back 8 or so years ago.. She was so sharp she got herself to the uk, did enough time to get her passport and is now on the international escort market, multi 1000 usd a night and her facebook is Caribbean, Australia, europe, etc etc..

Wanna pay peanuts, you know what you get.. Its not about location.. hell I could send you some line accounts, where they daily advertise the 'bangkok car show pretties' and top tier coyotes, right here in town.. Or go drop 10k in the karaokes on Chiang Klan and say they are all rough.. its about farangs going from being in the higher bracket spending power in the 90s and 2000 era, to now being mediocre at best..

Thanks for this, a most refreshing post to read that makes a huge amount of sense and coming from me, Mr Cynical, is a real compliment.

Yes, this is exactly what I think this is all about, that the Thailand commercial and adult entertainments scene has moved on. The best lookers and cleverest girls have aimed for the higher end of the market plus those who run the more exclusive bars and clubs including the online agencies have manipulated the industry in their favour where they get the pick of the crop and have become more of a draw for the girls with higher potential in that line of work.

This explains the luke warm and orange light districts like the Loi Kroh Road which substantiates what you say; that we only get what we pay for and considering the price scales in that area not much better can be expected or should be expected. Like everything else, we want quality, than we have to expect to pay for it.

I know that many of the commercial adult entertainments establishments in Thailand are now demanding ridiculous amounts of money for services, even surpassing the similar establishments of Australia, America, the UK and Europe or in other words it`s become greedy and in my opinion has become well over priced, silly money in fact. But again as you say; Thailand has got richer, its a middle income country now, no longer are there the desperate offering themselves to budgeted tourists for a pittance, them days are long gone. To put it more in laymen's terms, the party`s over.

[Godfree2]

If you guys knew the power of Game all this 10k here and 10k there would stop.

It is not hard to get these girls out of the CMU dorms. As in, the ones driving Mercedes with new smartphones and look great. No money necessary.

If you are under 60, money is just a crutch as most guys don't understand that money and looks are a small piece of the pie.

[Ulysses G.]

Lying to them works wonders, but I rather just pay and have a relatively clear conscience. These girls have tough enough lives.

[Beng]

Everything as usual

[JulieM]

If you guys knew the power of Game all this 10k here and 10k there would stop.

It is not hard to get these girls out of the CMU dorms. As in, the ones driving Mercedes with new smartphones and look great. No money necessary.

If you are under 60, money is just a crutch as most guys don't understand that money and looks are a small piece of the pie.

Well, thank goodness we have people like Godfree2 to understand all of these things for us and pass on his wisdom to us.

[Chicog]

If you guys knew the power of Game all this 10k here and 10k there would stop.

It is not hard to get these girls out of the CMU dorms. As in, the ones driving Mercedes with new smartphones and look great. No money necessary.

If you are under 60, money is just a crutch as most guys don't understand that money and looks are a small piece of the pie.

Well, thank goodness we have people like Godfree2 to understand all of these things for us and pass on his wisdom to us.

Obviously a legend in his own lunchtime.

[Mapguy]

If you guys knew the power of Game all this 10k here and 10k there would stop.

It is not hard to get these girls out of the CMU dorms. As in, the ones driving Mercedes with new smartphones and look great. No money necessary.

If you are under 60, money is just a crutch as most guys don't understand that money and looks are a small piece of the pie.

Well, thank goodness we have people like Godfree2 to understand all of these things for us and pass on his wisdom to us.

Obviously a legend in his own lunchtime.

Hmmmm? Not sure which works here: "GGW" or "DOM." That would be "god's gift to women" or "dirty old man."

[bangmai]

I did a walk of LK and MM today, between 5 and 6, looking for a decent HH. Nothing on LK was remotely tempting. BlueSky had 70 thb large Leos till 20:00, but all I saw was a guy drinking Chang on ice and I just couldn't do it. John's had about a mini-bus full of senior citizens, and it certainly wouldn't have killed me, but I ended up drinking fresh Leos (yai) for 55 THB on Nimman. LK? Put a fork in it; it's done.